One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Cult-TV Blogging: The Starlost: "Lazarus from the Mist"

In
some ways, “Lazarus from the Mist” -- the second episode of the 1970s Canadian
science fiction series The Starlost -- plays like the
second part of the pilot, “Voyage of Discovery.”

Here,
our naïve protagonists Devon (Keir Dullea), Rachel (Gay Rowan) and Garth (Robin
Ward) learn that the key to changing the Earthship Ark’s (collision) course may
rest in forgotten documents and archives preserved throughout the ship’s domes,
thus necessitating a dome-by-dome exploration of the vast generation ship. That dome-tod0ome exploration consists of the
remaining fourteen episodes or so of the series.

In
“Lazarus from the Mist,” Devon and his friends are still standing on the Ark’s ruined
bridge when they detect an automated distress call apparently emanating from a
command/medical section nearby. They attempted
to find that section, but are promptly waylaid by primitive “Tube People,” service-personnel
of the ark who, over the centuries, have developed a kind of nomadic society in
the corridors. They have never seen sky,
nor soil. They have never seen night or
day.

While
Garth holds the Tube People at bay, Devon and Rachel locate the medical section
and a vast cryonic vault. There, preserved
in stasis, are dozens of engineers and designers who may be able to set the Ark’s
collision course right. Devon and Rachel awake one man, Dr. Gerald Aaron (Frank
Converse) only to learn that he is dying from a “radiation virus” and doesn’t
possess the knowledge they need to alter course. Instead, he explains to the duo about the
documents, blueprints and schematics located throughout the domes.

Later
Garth, Devon and Rachel use the medical bay’s advanced equipment to save the
Tube People’s leader from a bloody wound, and peace is forged. The Tube People are led to an agricultural
dome, where they begin a new life…

I
must admit, I have watched this episode of The Starlost twice, and the first
time I did so I found it virtually interminable. It’s slow-moving, and there's no real sense of danger or conflict. Much of the shooting-style remains unbearably claustrophobic.

On
the second viewing, with expectations in hand, I began to register some of the
episode’s more intriguing and interesting points. Among these, I count Rachel and Devon’s moral
debate about waking up the engineer, Aaron.
Rachel believes that such matters “should
be left up to the creator” and worries that “we’re tampering with something we have no right to.”

By
contrast, Devon argues that everyone on the Ark is going to die if they don’t
get the information they seek, so therefore the risk to one man is
justified. I tend to agree with Devon.

He
makes a tough call in this episode, and shows some of the same spine he
revealed in “Voyage of Discovery.”
Speifically, Devon wakes up a man suffering from a (nebulous “radiation
virus” with the direct knowledge that he is, in essence, sentencing him to
death. And yet Devon makes a very human
decision. Wouldn’t any one of us accept a death sentence if we understood that it
would save the entirety of the human race?

I
suppose my biggest problem with the episode involves the “tube people,”
subplot. I love the idea of generational
space travelers essentially going native over the long centuries, an idea
well-dramatized in Space: 1999’s “Mission of the Darians” and also Pandorum
(2009). But the actors playing the Tube
People are encouraged here, for some reason, to act like mental case, or very young
children. I don’t think this concept really works very well.

After
all, the Tube People have had a hard life scavenging for food, in a world of no
daylight and no darkness. They would be
harder and tougher, I think, than the episode portrays them…and not so
silly. At the end, when the Tube People
happily wave goodbye to Rachel, Devon and Garth, the moment is wince-inducing. In another scene, they are depicted tossing
around a ball to one another like pre-schoolers.

I
also am ambivalent about the happy solution to the Tube People dilemma. The awakened engineer, Araon, reports of a
conveniently-located “agricultural” dome very nearby, where they can settle and
begin life anew. This works as a
one-time solution, but if Starlost is to have any veneer of
realism, it can’t just hand out vacant domes to every society Devon encounters. Hopefully the resolution won’t recur.

But
for every questionable moment or plot solution like that one, “Lazarus from the
Mist” also provides a good moment or two.
Here, there’s a strong, emotional moment wherein Aaron watches listens
to a video recording from his wife…made over five hundred years ago. It’s a very human, very moving moment, and
suggestive of The Starlost’s approach to character. Devon, Rachel and Garth aren’t technical
wizards and they don’t know a whole lot about theirown world (the Ark), but
they do possess the capacity to remind the people they encounter and meet of
their humanity. I think that idea comes
through loud and clear in this second episode.

I
also like some of the weird sets in this episode. The Cryonic Vault, for instance, looks pretty
convincing, given the low, low budget of the series. I doubt it’s a set that will get any use
again, but it is nicely utilitarian and therefore convincing. It compares not unfavorably to the “Ark in
Space” set from vintage Doctor Who, in 1975.

About John

award-winning author of 27 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).

Follow by Email

What the Critics Say...

"...some of the best writing about the genre has been done by John Kenneth Muir. I am particularly grateful to him for the time and attention he's paid to things others have overlooked, under-appreciated and often written off. His is a fan's perspective first, but with a critic's eye to theme and underscore, to influence and pastiche..." - Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, in the foreword to Horror Films FAQ (October 2013).

"Hands down, John Kenneth Muir is one of the finest critics and writers working today. His deep analysis of contemporary American culture is always illuminating and insightful. John's film writing and criticism is outstanding and a great place to start for any budding writer, but one should also examine his work on comic books, TV, and music. His weighty catalog of books and essays combined with his significant blog production places him at the top of pop culture writers. Johns work is essential in understanding the centrality of culture in modern society." - Professor Bob Batchelor, cultural historian and Executive Director of the James Pedas Communication Center at Thiel College (2014).

"...an independent film scholar, [Muir] explains film studies concepts in a language that is reader-friendly and engaging..." (The Hindu, 2007)"...Muir's genius lies in his giving context to the films..." (Choice, 2007)